A Fun and Rejuvinating Afternoon

A couple of weeks ago, Elder Hinton and I took a real missionary preparation day.  We haven't done that much on this mission.  It's not that we don't feel like we can, we just always have things to accomplish and plan our days accordingly.  But we decided it was time to put on non-missionary clothes and do something for fun. 

We drove to Atsumi, a little town on the Sea of Japan.  It's about 30 minutes from our home.  It's a cute little town that has a natural hot spring.  So there are many Japanese-style hotels that feature hot spring soaking.  That is a very popular vacation activity for Japanese people. 

The river runs through the middle of town.

I discovered a little touristy-type shop and bought some little handmade things.  The shop was extremely hot as there was just a small fan in there.  But it was still fun to do some "fun shopping."

This is a picture of a Japanese-style onsen hotel (Ryokan.)

Koi Nobori s fly over the river.

In the middle of the street, they have built this little mini-spa.  It is for soaking your feet in the hot onsen water.  We had to try it out.

Where else are you going to see a monument to a turnip?

We then drove up the coast and saw a lot of beautiful scenery.

Cormorants

I am fascinated with this common sight.  They pour cement on the hillside to prevent erosion and landslides.  How?  I wonder . . .

As we drove into Yura, we stopped at a convenience store and bought an ice cream bar.  We enjoyed it as we overlooked the island we were soon going to hike around.

There weren't many people out, but we did see this couple.  I had to snap a picture because pda is just not something you ever see in Japan.  They are holding hands and that is worth photographing!

Anywhere near the sea, these tsunami warning signs are a familiar sight.  They tell you how high up from the sea you are.

We start to cross the bridge over to the island.

The water of the sea of Japan is so clear and clean and inviting.

You can easily see the fish from the bridge.

Looking back at Yura from the island. 

You can see a couple of tents of campers on the beach. 

Japanese-style architecture restroom.

Shrine on the island

The water was so deep and blue and inviting- but I didn't get in.

They have built a nice trail around the island.  It has many steep up and down stairs.  I was a little intimidated when I saw what was ahead.

The sun was starting to set when we got out to the other side of the island.  The lighting was perfect and the view spectacular.

You can see the lighthouse on the next point.

Seriously?   Okay . . .

I just couldn't stop taking pictures- it was so beautiful!

And I made it!  Back to the bridge.  It was a great, though very hot hike! 

My bucket list includes swimming in the Sea of Japan.  It's still on there.  Our plan was to wade in the ocean when we finished the hike.  But we were so hot and sweaty and tired, we decided to save that adventure for another time.  The air conditioning in the car was heaven-sent!!!  It was a fun and rejuvenating afternoon together in Japan.